


Mending a Heart

by RaspberryMint



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Angst, Light Dom/sub, Light Masochism, M/M, Mystery, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-14 08:52:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15385191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaspberryMint/pseuds/RaspberryMint
Summary: Asra's young Apprentice Desmond and Doctor Julian Devorak were supposed to start a life together. After Desmond had successfully proved   Julian innocent of Count Lucio's murder, all Desmond wanted was to live out a peaceful life in the palace gardens with Julian and his sister Portia. It would have been perfect... Only Julian had other plans. He didn't feel satisfied with settling down yet. Even with the burden of murder off of the handsome doctor's shoulders, he still couldn't shake the feeling that he had parts of him that still needed solving. So Desmond let him go. But one day, Desmond is no longer able to sense Julian's presence, no matter how hard he pushes his sight. What could possibly have caused a rift between Julian and Desmond? Only the magic of the Arcana and Julian himself will tell.





	Mending a Heart

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fan made soft AU story dedicated to the Arcana game and all it's fans! Hope you enjoy and find yourself attached to my apprentice and his related with Julian!

Waiting is something that nearly all sum of creatures must deal with. Life itself is a waiting game. And of course, waiting isn't much fun. Not for me anyways. But of course, that's what I'm forced to do, the sun beating down on me as I'm kneeled down in the dirt, a basket on my arm and a seal pointed cat winding itself around my back, it's tail gently sweeping my sides.

"Hi Pepi" I coo, stroking the cat's head. He pushes his head up into my hand with a purr. The gentle rumble only momentarily sates my loneliness. With a small smile, I turn back to the garden and pluck a few more fruits from the ground and place them into my basket before standing to my feet once more. Pepi stays hot on my heels as I make my way towards the small thatch roofed cottage residing on the edge of the garden, just barely peeking out from the shrubbery. I open the door and enter the house, taking care to make sure I don't shut the door before Pepi can slink inside after me. A girl with pale skin and curly red hair looks up at me from her seat at the table.

"Ah! Desmond!" She exclaims, closing the book in front of her and turning her attention soley on me. "Back so soon? I was sure you'd spend all day out there brooding on your own." I sigh, pulling my fur-lined cape from off my shoulders, hanging it over a stand near the door.

"Yeah, it was getting miserably hot out there. I couldn't bear it any longer." The girl's eyes stay locked on me as I set the basket of varied fresh foods down on the counter and turn on the sink's faucet. As I reach to grab the first passionfruit, the girl stands up.

"Desmond, you should rest. Let me take care of that." I hesitate before nodding and stepping aside.

"Thanks, Portia." I move around her and sit down in the seat she left open, patting Pepi's head once when he jumps up onto the table with a soft mrow. Glancing towards the open window, I watch the light curtains dance slightly in the soft breeze, letting my mind wander. As my eyes close, I feel the presence of someone nearby. Just barely in the darkness of my mind, a gentle feeling washes over me. He's near. I'm so close... Yet I can't seem to grasp the presence in my conciousness. Not enough to see him. Not enough for him to feel me. My Julian. My eyes flutter open. Julian is still out there. On his quest to discover himself. I have no doubt that he still likes me; that he misses me too. But no matter what, I told Julian that I would allow him to do whatever it takes for him to find who he wants to be. I just... wonder when he'll return to me.

  
The next morning, I find myself waking before the sun rises. I can feel a gentle voice calling out to me from somewhere in the back of my mind. It feels familiar. Of course, after wiping the sleep from my eyes I can immediately determine the source of the voice. "Asra..." I whisper to myself before quickly throwing my sheets to the side. I quickly but quietly grab my cape so as not to wake Portia. I wrap the furred edge of my cape high up around my shoulders and tie my sandals onto my feet before throwing open the door and disappearing into the dawn. I snake my way through the garden maze to a small wooden door in the side of a stone wall and make my exit. On my way to the source of the voice, I feel a smooth shape coil across my shoulders. I immediately know that it's Faust.

"Friend!" The snake hisses in her tongue. I nod a greeting to her but don't slow my pace until I have made my way through the market and into the dark alleyway where my previous home resides. I reach a small shop at the beginning of the alleyway and knock twice on the large door. It opens almost immediately and a white haired figure in colorful scarves stands in front of me.

"Asra, I came as soon as I sensed your voice." I move around him into the shop, Faust slinking off my shoulders onto Asra as I pass him. Asra gives Faust a treat from his palm before shutting the door and turning to face me.

"Desmond, I called you here because I felt something. Something bad." From the look plastered on Asra's face, he's definitely serious. He lacks the slight smirk on his lips that nearly always lingers. "The Arcana have been speaking to me a lot more than usual. I don't even have to reach out to them my own anymore for them to speak to me. They simply do it on their own." Asra says worriedly, though keeping his voice as steady as possible. I sit quietly for a moment, thinking.

"What have they told you?" I ask, afraid to hear the answer Asra has to give me.

"It's about Julian." The words that come from Asra's mouth make my heart rate rise. I'm not ready to hear what he has to say next. "Julian is straying. He's falling back into his old habits. He's becoming obsessive, forgetful..." Asra stops, dropping his gaze to the floor for a brief moment. The air is heavy as I hold my breath.

"Desmond. He's forgetting you." Asra looks straight into my eyes. I feel my heart wrench as I see no insincerity can in Asra's gaze. He's telling me the truth. I know it. I can barely keep my balance and lean against a beam, focusing on my breathing.

"Asra.. I felt it. Every day, no matter how far I reach out with my magic, Julian's presence has been getting foggier... I can no longer see him in my head, his red hair, his soft eyes, his wry smile, I can't feel his warmth anymore..." I look up into Asra's eyes once again. "I...Yesterday, I couldn't see him at all." Once the words come out of my mouth, I'm jolted into the reality that Julian is losing touch with me; with his own sanity. He could lose it all... everything we made since I proved him innocent of Count Lucio's murder. Suddenly, overwhelming guilt crashes down on my heart. "I shouldn't have let him go. It's all my fault." Panic flooded into Asra's expression and tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. Before I can start crying, Asra steps forward and pulls me into a tight hug, holding my head against his chest.

"Don't worry, Desmond, we'll find him. We'll bring him back." Asra pets my hair as I sob against his chest. "We'll find him and bring him home before this gets any worse. I promise."


End file.
